Best for
SaaS landing pages or portfolio sites wanting a premium neon-glow navigation or floating action menu
Stack
A ready-made Glow Menu Component UI you can fork, run, and customize with the prompt pack below.
What's actually inside
The honest engineer's breakdown — what the Glow Menu Componenttemplate does, how it's wired, and where it's opinionated.
The Glow Menu Component template delivers a visually distinctive navigation with a smooth glowing highlight that follows the active or hovered MenuItem. The magic is in the GlowLayer — an absolutely-positioned div driven by Framer Motion's layoutId prop, which means when you move the active item from one MenuItem to another, Framer Motion interpolates the position, size, and opacity automatically rather than snapping. The glow itself is a Tailwind box-shadow utility (e.g., shadow-[0_0_20px_#7C3AED]) combined with a backdrop-blur for that frosted-glass neon look.
Each MenuItem uses a lucide-react icon, a text label, and an optional shadcn Badge for notification counts via IconBadge. The GlowMenu manages active item state internally using useState, and the ActiveIndicator provides a secondary visual cue — either a bottom border or background tint — on the selected item alongside the GlowLayer.
One honest caveat: the hover and selection glow are triggered only by mouse events. Keyboard navigation (Tab to focus, Enter to select) is not implemented out of the box, which means this template does not meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility requirements. The prompt pack below includes a keyboard navigation fix, but if accessibility is a hard requirement from day one, plan that work upfront rather than bolting it on later.
Key UI components
GlowMenuWrapper managing active item state and emitting glow effect on hover and selection
MenuItemIndividual nav item with lucide-react icon, label, and animated glow halo effect
GlowLayerAbsolutely-positioned div driven by Framer Motion layoutId to move the glow highlight smoothly between items
ActiveIndicatorBottom-border or background highlight on the currently selected MenuItem as a secondary visual cue
IconBadgeOptional notification count badge on specific menu items using shadcn Badge
Libraries it leans on
Framer MotionAnimatePresence and layout animations for the smooth GlowLayer transition between MenuItems
shadcn/ui (Badge)Notification count chips in the IconBadge area of each MenuItem
Tailwind CSS (box-shadow, backdrop-blur)The actual glow diffusion effect and frosted-glass overlay behind the GlowLayer
Fork it and get it running
Forking the Glow Menu Component is a fully browser-based process — no terminal needed to get a live URL.
Open and fork the template
Go to https://v0.dev/chat/community/XqrIezRilBR in your browser and click 'Fork' to create your own editable copy. V0 creates a new chat session with the full template code. You now own this copy and can edit it freely without affecting the community original.
Tip: Log in to v0.dev first — the Fork button redirects to the login page if you are not signed in.
You should see: Your fork opens and the Vercel Sandbox preview shows the GlowMenu with all MenuItems visible.
Test the glow animation in preview
In the Vercel Sandbox preview, hover over each MenuItem and click to select one. Watch the GlowLayer animate smoothly from item to item using Framer Motion's layoutId. Confirm that the ActiveIndicator also appears on the selected item. If the glow flickers on first hover, see the Gotchas section below.
You should see: The GlowLayer moves smoothly between MenuItems on hover and click, with no flicker or layout jump.
Adjust glow colour and labels with Design Mode
Press Option+D on Mac to open Design Mode. Click on any MenuItem label to rename it. To change the glow colour without spending credits, note the current colour class and use a simple AI prompt. Design Mode is best for text edits; colour changes to box-shadow values are faster via a quick AI prompt.
Tip: Design Mode adjustments are free — they do not consume V0 credits.
You should see: MenuItem labels update to your nav link names in the live preview.
Customise via AI chat
Use the chat input to paste prompts from the pack below. For example, paste the 'Change glow colour to brand purple' prompt to update all GlowLayer colours in one shot. Each AI edit creates a new version in the version history panel, so you can always roll back to a previous state.
Tip: Use @filename in your prompt to scope the AI's edit to a specific component file.
You should see: The Sandbox preview updates with the new glow colour or layout after each AI edit.
Publish to a live Vercel URL
Click Share (top-right icon) → Publish tab → 'Publish to Production'. Vercel deploys in under 60 seconds and gives you a live *.vercel.app URL. The glow animation runs identically in production. You must click Publish again after any subsequent AI edits to push the update live.
You should see: A publicly accessible URL shows the animated Glow Menu in production with full animation support.
Push to GitHub (optional)
Open the Git panel → Connect → select your GitHub organisation → V0 creates a branch v0/main-{hash} and opens a pull request with all source files. Review and merge to bring the code into your main branch for local development or integrating into an existing Next.js project.
Tip: V0 never pushes directly to main, always via a PR.
You should see: A GitHub PR appears with the complete GlowMenu component files ready to merge.
The prompt pack
Copy-paste these straight into v0's chat to customize the Glow Menu Componenttemplate. Each one names this template's own components — no generic filler.
Change the glow colour to brand purple
Recolours the entire glow system — GlowLayer, ActiveIndicator, and IconBadge — to a single brand purple without touching the Framer Motion animation logic.
Update the GlowLayer background and box-shadow colour from the current accent to #7C3AED (purple-600) across all Tailwind classes and any inline style objects in the GlowMenu component. Also update the ActiveIndicator border colour and the IconBadge background to a complementary purple tone so the whole menu reads as a single colour system.
Add a fifth MenuItem for Settings
Extends the GlowMenu with a fifth nav item, fully wired into the glow animation system.
Add a new MenuItem to the GlowMenu with a Settings icon from lucide-react, the label 'Settings', and the same hover and glow behaviour as the existing items. Ensure the new item participates in the GlowLayer layoutId animation so the glow moves to Settings correctly when hovered or clicked.
Refactor GlowMenu to vertical sidebar mode
Turns the horizontal glow nav bar into a vertical sidebar navigation with the same smooth glow animation.
Refactor the GlowMenu flex direction from row to column so it renders as a left sidebar navigation. Adjust the padding, item height, and GlowLayer dimensions to suit a vertical layout (full-width items, taller rows). The GlowLayer layoutId animation should still work smoothly in the vertical direction. Add a fixed width (e.g., w-64) to the sidebar container.
Wire active MenuItem to Next.js route with usePathname
Makes the GlowMenu route-aware — the glow automatically moves to the correct item when users navigate between pages.
Replace the internal useState active tracking in GlowMenu with the Next.js usePathname hook so the active MenuItem automatically highlights based on the current URL route. Give each MenuItem an href prop pointing to its route and wrap the item in a Next.js Link component. The GlowLayer should follow the active route on every navigation.
Persist last-visited section to Supabase
Persists the user's last active menu section to Supabase so the correct item is highlighted when they return to the page.
On each MenuItem click, call a Next.js server action that upserts a row in a Supabase table `user_preferences (user_id uuid, last_section text, updated_at timestamptz)`. On component mount, fetch the stored section from Supabase using the server-side client and initialise the GlowMenu's active state to the stored value. Add SUPABASE_URL and SUPABASE_ANON_KEY to the Vars panel in V0.
Add role-based MenuItem visibility with Clerk
Hides or shows MenuItems based on the logged-in user's Clerk role, enabling a single GlowMenu to serve both admin and regular user views.
Add a `roles` prop (string array, e.g., ['admin', 'editor']) to each MenuItem. In a Server Component, call Clerk's auth() to get the current user's role. Pass the role down to the GlowMenu as a `userRole` prop and filter the rendered MenuItems to only those whose `roles` array includes the current userRole. Add CLERK_SECRET_KEY and NEXT_PUBLIC_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY to the Vars panel.
Gotchas when you extend it
The failures people actually hit when they push this template past its defaults — and the exact fix for each.
Glow animation flickers on initial render (GlowLayer flashes in on first hover)Why: Framer Motion layoutId animations require a stable DOM between render cycles. If the GlowLayer mounts and unmounts because no item is active by default, AnimatePresence plays an entry animation on first hover.
Fix: Initialize the GlowMenu active state to the first menu item by default so GlowLayer is always present in the DOM from the first render, avoiding the AnimatePresence entry flash.
Set the default active menu item to the first item in the list so the GlowLayer is present from the initial render and does not flash in on the first hover.
The component at https://ui.shadcn.com/r/styles/new-york-v4/badge.json was not found.Why: The Badge component used for notification counts in IconBadge may reference a renamed registry entry in the current version of the shadcn/ui registry.
Fix: Download the project ZIP and install the Badge manually with `npx shadcn add badge`, or ask V0 to inline the badge as a styled span element.
Replace the shadcn Badge import in IconBadge with a plain span element styled with Tailwind (rounded-full, text-xs, bg-red-500, text-white, px-1) so it has no shadcn registry dependency.
Box-shadow glow disappears after Tailwind build (purge removes arbitrary classes)Why: Custom box-shadow values written as arbitrary Tailwind classes like shadow-[0_0_20px_#7C3AED] can be removed by Tailwind's JIT purge if they are constructed dynamically in JavaScript rather than appearing as full static strings.
Fix: Move all custom glow box-shadow values to tailwind.config.js under theme.extend.boxShadow so they are named utilities that Tailwind always includes.
Move all custom glow box-shadow values from arbitrary Tailwind classes to named utilities in tailwind.config.js so they survive the Tailwind purge step in production builds.
GlowMenu does not respond to keyboard navigation (Tab, Enter, Space)Why: The glow effect is triggered only by mouse hover and click events. There are no onFocus or onKeyDown handlers, so keyboard users cannot activate the glow or select items, failing WCAG 2.1 AA.
Fix: Add onFocus and onKeyDown (Enter/Space) handlers to each MenuItem so the GlowLayer follows keyboard focus and items activate on key press.
Add keyboard navigation to the GlowMenu: Tab moves focus between MenuItems, the GlowLayer follows the focused item using the same layoutId animation, and Enter or Space activates the selected item.
Template vs. custom — the honest call
A forked template gets you far, fast. Here's where it holds up, and where you'll outgrow it.
The template is enough when
- You need a stylish navigation component with a tested Framer Motion glow animation pattern without writing it from scratch
- The menu items are static (5-8 routes) and do not require server-driven role filtering
- You are adding it to a landing page or marketing site where visual impact matters more than complex state
- You want to prototype a premium-looking nav for a client pitch in under an hour
Go custom when
- You need a mega-menu with dropdown sub-navigation, search, or nested route trees
- Accessibility compliance (WCAG AA keyboard and screen reader support) is a hard requirement from day one
- Menu items and their visibility rules are managed by a CMS or user role system with frequent changes
- You need analytics on menu interactions (click tracking per item, session recording)
If you need a production-ready navigation shell with role-based visibility and WCAG compliance built in, RapidDev can extend this V0 prototype to meet those requirements.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Glow Menu Component V0 template free?
Yes. It is a free community template on v0.dev. Forking uses credits from your V0 plan. Once forked, the generated code is yours with no ongoing fee.
Can I use this template in a commercial project?
Yes. The generated code carries no licensing restrictions from v0.dev. Framer Motion is MIT-licensed and shadcn/ui is MIT-licensed. You can ship this in a paid product or for a client without attribution.
Does the glow use GSAP or CSS animations?
No. The glow animation is driven by Framer Motion's layoutId and animate props, not GSAP. The visual glow effect itself is a Tailwind CSS box-shadow utility (arbitrary value like shadow-[0_0_20px_#hex]) combined with backdrop-blur.
Why does my fork break in the V0 preview after I add more MenuItems?
The most common cause is the GlowLayer flicker on initial render when no item is active by default. Fix it by initialising the active state to the first menu item so the GlowLayer is always mounted. See the Gotchas section for the exact fix prompt.
Why does the glow disappear after I deploy the project?
Arbitrary Tailwind box-shadow classes like shadow-[0_0_20px_#7C3AED] can be purged by Tailwind's JIT compiler if they are built dynamically. Move custom glow values to tailwind.config.js under theme.extend.boxShadow so they are named utilities that survive the purge step.
Is this template accessible for keyboard users?
Not out of the box. The glow effect is mouse-only. Use the keyboard navigation prompt from the pack to add Tab focus support, Enter/Space activation, and the GlowLayer following keyboard focus — otherwise the component fails WCAG 2.1 AA.
Can RapidDev extend this menu with role-based access and accessibility?
Yes. RapidDev can build on this V0 prototype to add Clerk role-based menu filtering, full WCAG AA keyboard and screen-reader support, and a CMS-driven menu item system — reach out if you need a production-grade navigation shell.
Outgrowing the template?
RapidDev turns v0 prototypes into production apps — real auth, database, and payments — at $13K–$25K.
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